 However, after Marinos Ouzounidis took over, he was no longer a first-team choice for the club, especially after the defensive mistake that helped Apollon Smyrnis open the scoring in the Greek Cup match between the two (Panathinaikos eventually won 4-3); instead, discussions within Panathinaikos were made as to whether Ivanov would remain at the club even as a backup for the first team or would be completely released from his contract.He was released from Panathinaikos on 24 January 2017 by mutual consent.On 1 February 2017, Ivanov joined Russian Premier League club FC Arsenal Tula on a 1.5-year contract.